The plague of unsolicited email clogging office systems has prompted major security software companies to flesh out their product line-ups with anti-spamming software. Online security services provider McAfee joined the fray in April with its acquisition of SpamKiller, a Norway-based vendor of anti-spamming tools. McAfee plans to add the email blocking service to its line of managed security solutions, which include anti-virus protection, firewall and privacy protection. Thor Ivar Ekle, creator of SpamKiller and one of the world's leading spam experts, will join McAfee.com to lead the continued development of the technology.

Spam has become a major headache – and cost – for organisations of all sizes. Research by analyst group Gartner shows that through 2002 spam will account for up to 25% of all email traffic.